Clothes-line holder.



J. G. R. STEIRLY. CLOTHES LINE HOLDER. -APPLIGATION IIIYED MAR..2, 1907.nnmwnn I'm. as, 1908.

900,608, Patented Oct. 6, 1908.

UNITED STATES [PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES CHRISTIAN RIST'STEIRLY, OF OIL CITY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORTO L.J. ROESS, OF OIL CITY, PENNSYLVANIA. V

o orHEsmr: HOLDER.

I Specification of Letters Patent. A I Application filed March 2, 1907,SeriaINo. 360,181. Renewed February 28, 1908. Serial N 0. 418,289.

Patented Oct. 6, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs CHRISTIAN Rrs'r STEIRLY, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Oil City, in the county of Venango and Stateof Pennsylvania, haveinvented new and useful Im rovements in Clothes-vThe holder comprises an open ro e seat;

defined by upper and lower walls, t e one wall being transversely straiht and the other inchned, a wedge member or block slidable in the seatand having one edge thereof adjacent to one of the walls provided withteeth to bite into the rope, and also having a recess and a manuallyoperative lever fulcrumed at an intermediate point to the body of theholder and having a straight free extremity loosely engaging the recessof the member or block, means being provided for locking the leveragainst movement after the desired adjustment of the wedge member orblock has been. obtained.

The invention also consists in the details of construction andarrangement of the several parts which will be hereinafter more fully secified.

In t e drawing: Figure 1 isa side elevation of a holder embodying thefeatures of the inholder having an upper reduced extremity 2 which isvertically slotted as at 3 to movably receive a coupling member 4 of asecuring screw'5, the member l being pivoted 1n the upper reducedextremity 2 and held. con

ogous device, or to a support overhead.

The holder is capable of use either in a vertical or horizontalposition, and to properly dispose'the same to receive a rope the body 1has a gri or handle 7 extending therefrom at one si e of the center. Theupper part of the body 1 of the holder also has an opening 8therethrough to receive a fastening to secure the holder in fixedposition if desired.

A rope seat 9 is formed on one side of the body 1 by an upper inclinedwall or flange 10 and a lower transversely straight wall 1 1, the seat 9thus having a converged contour towards one extremity thereof. Withinthe seat 9 a wedge block 12 is slidably mounted and is guided in itsmovements in o posite directions by an angular rib 13 located wlthin theseat and engaging a corresponding groove 14 in the back of the block.This rib 13 and groove 14 obstruct any tendency of the block toirregularly shift or move towards the wall or flange 10, or, in otherwords, to have lateral movement. In its opposite side the block 12 isformed with a recess 15 which opens out through the edge adjacent to thewall 11, the latter being slotted as at 16 for a purpose which will bepresently explained. The edge of the block or member 12 opposite thatthrough which the recess 15 opens is formed with transversely extendingteeth or biting projections 17, and the inner portion of the'wall orflange 10 has corresponding teeth 18, theblock preferably carrying twoteeth and the wall or flange three teeth; and when the block is shiftedtowards the reduced extremity of the seat 9 the teeth thereof will belocated 0 posite the spaces between the. teeth 18 of the said wall orflange 10.

On the body 1 below the wall or flange 11, an operating lever 19 for theblock or member 12 is fulcrumed, and has a projecting extremity or finer 2O movable 1n the slot 16 of the wall or ange 11 and also in therecess 15 of the said block. 7 The lever 19 is fulcrumed at a ointintermediate of its length and is provi ed on one side with a boss 21movably fitting in a socket 22 formed in the body 1; and through thecenter of said boss and socket a rivet or pivot pin 23 is passed andsecured at opposite extremities with respect to the lever and the saidbody, as clearly shown by Fig. 3. To strengthen the body 1 or providefor the formation of the socket 22, an offset 24 is formed in thebodyaround the socket. The lower edge of the body has an arcuate flangeor segmental projection 25 formed at intervals with notches or recesses26 to receive a locking tooth 27 on the lever 19 close to the fulcrum,the boss 21 and tooth 27 being on the same side of the said lever. Theobject of the recesses 26 and the tooth 27 is to lock the lever and theblock or member 12 in adjusted position.

It is preferred that all the parts of the holder be constructed ofnon-corrosive metal, and to accommodate various uses changes in theroportions and dimensions may be adopte It will be seen that the numberof parts of the holder requiring individual construction is minimized,and independent of the coupling member 4 there are but three main elements; namely, the body 1, the member or block 12, and the lever 19. Theblock or member 12 and the lever 19 are separately constructed and inthe assemblage of the block or member with relation to the body 1 it isinserted longitudinally into the rope space 9 and the lever 19 thenapplied and secured.

From the foregoing explanation the operation will be readily understood.Then it is desired to secure a rope within the holder, the body isdisposed in the most convenient position through the medium of thehandle 7, and after the rope has been inserted between the toothed wallor flange 10 and the block or member 12 the lever 19 is drawn towardsthe handle 7 and the block or member 12 is forced towards the reducedextremity of the rope seat 9, thus causing the teeth 17 and 18 to firmlybite into opposite portions of the rope and secure the latter to theholder, the block or member 12 being locked in its adjusted position bythe tooth 27 on the lever 19 engaging one of the notches 26. Varioussizes of ropes may be introduced into and secured by the holder, and inreleasing the ro e the lever 19 is moved away from the han le 7. Thelever 19 is permitted to have suflieient play to release the tooth 27from either of the notches 26.

The strain brought to bear on the wedge block or member 12 is materiallyrelieved from the wall or flange 11 by the rib 13 engaging the groove 14in the said block, and, furthermore, this rib and groove insure auniformity of engagement of the teeth 17 of the said block with theadjacent portion of the rope disposed between the said block and thewall or flange 10. It will also be noted that the rope seat 9 istransversely disposed with respect to the body 1 of the holder. Thisparticular arrangement of the rope seat is a d vantageous in that a ropecan be more readily inserted in and removed. from the said seat.Furthermore, by having the lever 19 within easy reaching distance of thegrip or handle 7 the operator may use one hand in maintaining the body 1at a proper angle and also shift the lever in opposite directions tocorrespondingly move the wedge block or member 12.

Many other advantages will become apparent to those using the holder,and the cost of manufacture of the latter will be materially reduced inview of the special structure hereinbefore set forth.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, is:

1. In a holder of the class specified, a body having a rope seat with afully open front side, the walls of said seat converging towards oneextremity, a wedge member slidably mounted in said seat, and anoperating lever loosely fulcrumed at an intermediate point of the bodyand. having a straight free extremity loosely extending into the ropeseat and the adjacent side portion of the wedge member, the said freeextremity of the lever operating also to hold the said wedge member inplace in the seat.

2. In a holder of the class specified, a body having a transverselystraight wall and an inclined wall to provide a rope seat which is fullyopen at the front side, a guide rib extending longitudinally into theseat and. parallel with the transversely straight wall, a wedge-shapedslidable clamping member loosely and separably mounted in the seat andhaving a bottom groove to engage the said rib, and an operating meanshaving a free extremity loosely extending into the side portion of themember and. also operating to hold the latter in place in the seat, theone side edge of the clamping member and the inclined wall serving todirectly engage the rope placed therebetween.

3. A holder of the class set forth having a body with a handle or gripextending therefrom, a securing device movably attached to the extremityof the body opposite that from which the handle projects, a rope scatbeing formed at an intermediate point on the body by a transverselystraight wall and a converging wall, the seat being fully open at thefront side, a wedge member slidably and separably disposed in the said.rope scat between the walls, and an operating lever loosely pivoted atan intermediate point on the body and having a longitudinally straightfree end loosely projecting into the side portion of the wedge member,the handle extremity of the 1 lever being adjacent to the handle orgrip-of the body.

4. In a holder of the class set forth, a body having a rope seat and asegmental. projection provided. with notches the rope seat bc- 1.:

Illll ing fully open at the front, a wedge member slidably mounted inthe seat, and a lever loosely fulcrumed at an intermediate point to thebody and having a straight free extremity loosely projecting into theside portion of the wedge member and also provided with a projectionadjacent to the'body to engage the notches of the segmental projectionof the said body, the fulcrum of the lever being between the projectionand the end that engages the wedge member.

5. A holder of the class set forth comprising essentially three mainelements, consisting respectively of a body having a handle projectingfrom one extremity, a rope seat formed by a transversely straight and aninclined wall and having a rib extending longitudinally thereinto, allof the parts of the body being formed integral, a slidable Wedge blockhaving a recess 0 ening outwardly through one side and a bac groove toengage the rib of the rope seat, and a lever pivoted at an intermediatepoint to the body and having a straight free extremity projecting intothe recess of the wedge block, the handle of the lever being adjacenttothe handle of the body.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

' JAMES CHRISTIAN RIS'I STEIRLY.

Witnesses:

O. H. RowLEY, W. A. Russ.

